Simple Distraction
by Izume Hope
Summary: Ryou has come up with a plan to collect DNA from a Chimera Animal. It means that all three of the aliens have to be distracted.  It was such a simple plan... KxI PxL TxP One-shot


**I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.**

**If I would, something like this would happen:**

"But why _me_?".

Lettuce desperately looked at Ryou, who sighed. "Listen" he spoke with a stern voice "It is a simple plan and if you just keep focussed on our goal, it shouldn't be a problem for you to do". "But it is! Why am I the one to distract Pai?".

They were all sitting in Café Mew Mew, on a sunny afternoon. They closed the café early, because Ryou had come up with a plan to get some DNA of a Chimera Animal, so they could use it's technology against their enemy. It was a very simple plan: three of the girls would distract the aliens while the other two collected the DNA while fighting the monster.

Nevertheless, Lettuce didn't seem to like the plan very much, because it meant she had to distract Pai. Not only she always felt a little weird when he was near, he also scared her very much. How was she supposed to do this? "Mint and Zakuro would be much better to distract him".

Ryou sighed once again. "Look, I've gone through this myself a couple of times and it's the only way this'll work. I'll explain: Ichigo is the one to distract Kisshu, because she's the only one who can keep him from stopping us for longer then ten minutes. Pudding will distract Taruto, because she knows exactly how to do that. I need the abilities of Mint en Zakuro to collect the data. That leaves you and Pai. You have to do this, Lettuce. No excuses". "But what am I supposed to do?". "I don't know! Give him something to examine or something!". "To examine?". "Yes!".

Ryou took out a little bottle with a blue substance in it of his pocket. "Here, take this. Jump in the water, change into your mermaid form and distract him with that. If I have a proper idea of his character, he shouldn't be able to resist examining you".

Great. So now she was some kind of freak.

"I count on you to do this, Lettuce". She knew that. Of course she knew that. And she knew she'd eventually do it, because she needed to. But still… The prospect of facing Pai, their enemy who scared the hell out of her and could cause her serious injuries, wasn't very nice. She was afraid she'd faint or something. Or she'd fail. She couldn't fail, that would ruin everything. She didn't know how to handle this responsibility.

Ryou's face softened a bit, what caused Lettuce's heart to speed up and caught her breath. "I know you can do this, Lettuce. I have faith in you". "Faith…?". Her eyes were like saucers. "Faith" Ryou repeated. Lettuce gave him a little smile. If Ryou believed she'd be able to do it… She just had to live up to his expectations. She knew he didn't love her the way she loved him, but she didn't mind. As long as she could make his face soften a bit she was content. "Alright. I'll do my best".

Ryou smiled at her. "Great! Let's go!". They all got into Keiichiro's car and drove to the harbour, where they were expected. Half an hour ago a large Chimera Animal had appeared there and set their plan to work. They drove to the harbour in silent.

Pudding was excited. She got to see Tar-Tar again! Not only that, she also had a great excuse to play with him: she had to distract him, right? She knew how to do that. It was incredibly easy and she was looking forward to it.

Lettuce was getting nervous. She couldn't believe she actually agreed to facing Pai on her own. The purple alien always made her feel uncomfortable and he was a far better fighter then she was. If it would end in a fight, she'd lose. But it didn't have to end that way… If she could keep her and Pai from fighting today, that might be a sign they could eventually live in peace with each other. The girl clenched her fists. She had do distract him, no matter what. For the peace.

Ichigo was worried. She had to be alone with that annoying alien for at least ten minutes. That were ten minutes too much. She wasn't sure she'd be able to listen to his jabber for that long. So she just had to knock him out. And if that didn't work, she'd have to keep on talking to him. He'd listen, she knew he would. And it that didn't work…

She gulped. She didn't actually want to think of that option. She hadn't come up with the idea herself, though. It was actually Ryou's.

"_Distract him. I really don't care how, but distract him. Knock him out, kiss him, whatever. But distract him"._

Ichigo gulped once again. To kiss him. That was her last option. God, she really hoped she wouldn't have to do that. Not only she'd be betraying her Masaya, she would also have to keep herself from immediately pushing him away. If she'd do that, he'd go back to the Chimera Animal too soon. So if she had to kiss him, she actually had to _really_ kiss him. That wasn't a nice prospect.

Of course, he had kissed her before. But that wasn't something positive. She remembered the feeling of his lips on hers a bit to well. For Gods sake, she dreamt about it sometimes! If only she could control her dreams… That would surely make her life a lot easier.

The car turned into the harbour and the five girls got out of it quickly. They took out their pendants and activated them with a slight kiss.

"Mew Mew Ichigo Metamorphosis!". "Mew Mew Pudding Metamorphosis!". "Mew Mew Lettuce Metamorphosis!". "Mew Mew Mint Metamorphosis!". "Mew Mew Zakuro Metamorphosis!".

All of a sudden the mews were standing in front of Ryou and Keiichiro. "Alright girls" Ryou said with a serious face "This has to go perfect. Do you understand? All of you just stick to the plan. No improvising. Good luck". The girls nodded their heads and ran away, to something that might injure them real bad. They didn't look back.

They were waiting for them. They floated in the air, above the head of the monster they had created for them this time, that was destroying sheds.

"There is my Koneko-chan!" Kisshu said with a smirk. Ichigo immediately felt the anger running through her body. She'd just knock him out. "My name is Ichigo!".

"Gosh, you are late. I was getting bored already" Taruto said annoyed. "Oh, boohoo" Pudding answered with a giggle "Well, I'm here to play with you now, Tar-Tar!". "Don't call me that!" Taruto spoke angrily. She had just arrived and was already pissing him of. That might be a new record. She could be proud of herself.

Pai didn't say a thing. He just observed the five girls in front of him and noticed that the green one was looking very uncomfortable. What would that mean?

Lettuce glanced at Pai for a second and then immediately looked back at her hands. He was staring at her. Why was he staring at her? He probably saw completely through her… There was no way she'd be able to distract him.

"Playtime is over" Zakuro said "Let's go, girls". "I don't know what you guys are trying to achieve, but it probably isn't something good. For that, I won't forgive you!" Ichigo cried out to the aliens and their monster.

Kisshu shook his had and gave a snigger. "Always so aggressive…". Then he just disappeared into nowhere, only to appear in front of her. He cupped her cheek and gave her a smirk. "Did you miss me that bad?". Ichigo immediately slapped his hand away and grabbed her weapon. "Shut up!". Kisshu gave another snigger and took out his weapons. "Fine. We'll talk later. And maybe we'll do a little more…". "I said shut up!". Ichigo raised her weapon and cried out her attack, boiling with rage already.

O yeah, she'd definitely knock him out.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!". Kisshu dodged the attack with an evil laughter and teleported behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Here I am" he whispered softly in her ear. Ichigo shivered and turned around to face him. "You creep!". "Called for me?". She couldn't stand the smirk on his face. She'd do anything to wipe it off. "Yes!". Once again she screamed out her attack, forcing him to back off from the others and the monster.

That woke up her friends a bit. They had to start the plan.

"Ribbon Zakuro Sphere!". "Ribbon Mint Echo!". Zakuro and Mint began to again the ugly creature in front of them while Lettuce ran and Pudding ran towards the two aliens that were left, who tightened their grip around their weapons. Taruto went towards Pudding, mad, while Pai calmly awaited Lettuce.

"Pudding Ring Inferno!". Pudding sent her attack with a smile, knowing she probably wouldn't hurt Taruto anyway. The alien boy dodged the attack and circled around the little monkey girl in front of him.

All of a sudden Pudding ran off. She had to get him away from the monster.

"Hey!" he screamed indignant "Where do you think you're going?". Pudding just giggled a bit and kept on running. While uttering a frustrated cry Taruto followed her. "Get back here, you midget!". "No" Pudding sang as she climbed into a tree. From the tree she got onto the rood of a shed and looked at him in defiance. "Catch me if you can, Tar-Tar". Then she turned around and ran off again, over the roof, while laughing out loud. "Don't call me that!". Taruto flew after her, furious. "You're a coward! Fight me!". "No" she sang again.

Suddenly the boy teleported in front of her, his face twisted with anger. "I'll make you cry until you drop, do you hear me?". Pudding saluted to him with a serious face. "Yes sir". Then she let out another laugh and went off to the other side of the roof.

"Don't mock with me!". "I'm not mocking with you, Tar-Tar, I'm just having fun! Won't you play with me?". "No! I don't want to! You are far too childish!". "But I _am_ a child, am I not?". She turned to him and stood still, trying to recover her breath from running. "So why wouldn't I be childish?".

"Because… Because… You have to fight me!". "Not if I don't want to". "Yes you do! Otherwise I'll crush you! Take this, stupid monkey!". He threw his weapon to her. Pudding dodged it in time, but hurt herself while falling to the roof.

"Ow… That hurt…". She got up quickly, angry now. "You hurt me, Tar-Tar! You shouldn't have hurt me!". "Will you fight me now?" he asked hopefully. That would make it a lot of easier. "Fine! Pudding Ring Inferno!".

Her attack hit him on his shoulder and he grabbed it in pain. "Ow… You see! Now you hurt me! That's the way it's supposed to go!". "But I don't want to hurt you!". "You've got no choice if you want to survive!". Once again he threw his weapon. "I don't do mercy!". Pudding jumped away and turned a somersault. "I'm not asking for any!". Pudding cried out her attack. This time it hit him more heavily and the boy fell down to the roof.

"Tar-Tar!" Pudding shouted while running towards him "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?". "I- What are you doing, you idiot? You should attack me!". "But you're hurt! I can't attack you while you're hurt!". "Yes you can and you should!". "But I don't want to!". "You're weak!". "No, you're weak!". "Why would I be weak?". "BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU CAN SOLVE THINGS THROUGH FIGHTING!".

The alien was almost blown away and looked surprised to the girl in front of him, who was trying to recover her breath. "And you can't" she added more quietly "Besides, playing with each other is much more fun". Taruto took her in. "You are one weird monkey". "And you're a weird alien, but I don't bring that up either, do I?".

Pudding kneeled down next to him and put her hand on his injury. "Now let me see… Oops, I really hit you quite hard… I'm sorry, Tar-Tar, you just made me so angry…". Taruto was astonished. His enemy was apologizing for hurting him. That's something that doesn't occur very often, is it? She looked at him and gave him a smile. "The next time we'll just go and play hide and seek, alright?".

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!". The purple alien dodged her attack without any problems and immediately sent one of his own attacks to her, what caused her to hit the ground while dodging it. She got up immediately, just in time to jump away from the second attack he sent to her.

She knew what she had to do.

Lettuce gazed into his black eyes for one second and then jumped into the water next to the sheds.

Pai froze on his place and watched with eyes like saucers as Lettuce rose from the water again, her legs replaced with a green tale and glimmering in a blue light that matched with her eyes really well. Her look was determined as she looked him straight in the eyes and then dived back into the blue water. On the moment she broke through the surface her whole being seemed to change. It felt amazing.

It didn't take long for him to jump after her. He dived into the water and looked around, immediately seeing her. She floated about twenty metres away from him, her look still determined and more beautiful then he thought he'd ever see. Her hair waved around her face a bit and her blue eyes were more clear then ever. He never thought something as beautiful as this sight could exist. It didn't make sense. He had to find out where it came from. He just had to.

Lettuce turned her back on him and swam away slowly. He couldn't let that happen. "Fuu Rai Sen!". She cried out from pain when the attack hit her in the back. She could feel the heat of the lightening trying to eat away her skin and cringed. He teleported right in front of her and opened his mouth to attack again.

Too late, this time.

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!". He didn't see it coming because she was still cringing from pain, but the attack almost hit him. She really was determined. Without hesitation he raised his weapon again, but she swam towards him within a second and tried to punch him in his stomach. He prevented the punch from hitting him and grabbed hold of her fist, pulling her closer to him. Her eyes widened.

"Why don't you fear me?" he asked with a penetrating look. His eyes were merciless as they took away her breath. Didn't fear him? She was terrified. She knew that every second he could kill her without hesitation or regrets. But no way she was going to tell him that. He looked at her, investigating the expression on her face.

"Because I could have been dead by now".

His eyes became fierce. What was she insinuating? That he didn't want to kill her? Though he couldn't deny that he could have killed her really easy a couple of times, but didn't. Just because he wanted to examine her a bit further. She intrigued him. The way her weapons were castanets, the way she could change into a mermaid, the way she was so weak but still so determined. She didn't seem as shy as usually in the water, but she still blushed while speaking out her thoughts.

"You think I won't kill you?". High-speed he placed his hand in her neck and brought his face to hers, no emotion in his eyes. She could feel her bare skin bruise under his touch, but that wasn't the thing that caused her to blush. What the cause was, she didn't know. But she blushed. His voice was low and deep, just like his eyes.

"I'm absolutely positive that you won't kill me. Yet". "Why?". "Because you are a scientist and I am a project". He investigated the expression on her face once again, pulling her a little closer again. He could feel her tail touching his body. What was he doing again?

"You look at yourself as if you are a thing". "Yes, I do sometimes". "Why?". "Because if I don't, I'd be swept away by my own feelings and that would mean I wouldn't be able to do my job proper".

He understood exactly what she was saying, she could see it. But he didn't understand she felt the same as he did.

"What feelings?". "Excuse me?". "You'd be swept away by what feelings?". "O… well, not wanting to hurt my own enemy, for instance. Or my fear or anger or sadness". "Sadness?". "Yes. I see how much you hurt. It isn't a nice view". "I don't show". "No to everyone, no. But sometimes I look beyond your surface, Pai. You aren't a bad man. You just follow the orders you think are good. But they're not. We should negotiate, help each other". Her voice changed into begging. "Please Pai, give us a chance. Give me a chance to show you we can work things out without violence".

"We can't".

"Yes we can! Of course we can! We're not beasts, aren't we? We're civilized people, we should be able to-". "We can't". "Why not?". The look in her eyes became fierce and stubborn. "You sound like Ryou… Why won't you listen to me?". "I'm not like him". "What?".

Lettuce looked him in the eyes, surprised. He was getting mad, she could tell. Maybe she shouldn't have said he was like Ryou.

"I'm not like Blondie".

"Blondie…?". He said it with such a serious face. Lettuce couldn't help herself, she let out a giggle. Blondie… If Ryou knew how Pai called him, he'd be boiling with rage. She let out another giggle.

"Why are you happy? You're on the edge of getting killed".

"No I'm not. Yet". His grip around her neck got tighter. "You think yourself too safe, Mew Lettuce".

She was absolutely terrified. But she couldn't show. "You are thinking yourself too violent, Pai. Do you really want to fight me? We both know you'll win. I'll be dead. In that case you'll never find out why I am like this". She placed her hands on her chest.

God, he was close. Why was he so close? Why did she like it so much that he was close? What was happening to her? Why didn't he back off? Was he going to kill her after all? No, he wouldn't, would he? But, what else was he planning on? This didn't make any sense at all.

Pai found himself thinking the same things. He didn't know what was happening or why he felt this way. Why he felt at all. Then, all of sudden, out of nowhere, a thought raised in his mind. He was swept away by it and it took over his whole body.

_Logic can go to hell. _

He pulled her even closer and pressed his lips onto hers, what caused her heart to speed up, her cheeks to blush and her brain to collapse.

He was kissing her. He was kissing her. O my, he was kissing her. And she didn't mind at all. On the contrary, she swept her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, wondering how this would end en then losing herself in his kiss. It was unbelievable how sweet the mature boy could be. Tender. His fingers ran through her hair and she felt like she'd faint in his arms, but didn't. She didn't know what was happening and she didn't care.

"Argh!". With a frustrated cry Ichigo sent another attack to her enemy "You jerk!".

The knocking out part didn't work out the way she wanted it to.

Every time she sent an attack to the alien, he'd just give her a cynical smile and teleport behind her. So, she couldn't knock him out. What meant she had to go over to plan B, the talking part. But how was she going to have a civilized conversation with her enemy when he was pissing her off? She had never been this angry with him. Even the first time he kissed her, she hadn't been this angry. She was like a grenade, just waiting to explode and blow him away.

"Oh, come on, Koneko-chan. Just give up! You're never going to win from me!". "Never!" she screamed "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!". Kisshu rolled his eyes and sighed, while teleporting. "Argh! Stop cheating, you asshole!".

Kisshu placed one of his hands on his chest and looked to the sky. "Never!" he repeated her. Then he looked down to her and smirked. "Well, not until I have you. Won't take long, don't you think?". "How many times do I have to say this: you'll never, ever, get me".

He looked almost sad when those words escaped her lips and she found herself regretting saying it. That frightened her a bit, why would she mind seeing him hurt?

Kisshu teleported right in front of her this time, his eyes just inches away. Ichigo gasped. He let out another snigger and then turned around and flew into some alley between two sheds, leaving Ichigo alone to catch her breath.

What should she do? It was the perfect occasion to distract him, but on the other hand, he would be waiting for her there. He was definitely planning on something. What if she walked into a trap? He'd think her stupid.

Wait, why would she mind if he thought her stupid? Besides, she was the one making a fool out of him by distracting him, right? She gave a determined nod and followed the alien into the alley.

There was some kind of weird twilight, caused by the height of the sheds it was in between. She didn't like it at all, but she continued to walk, waiting for him to show up or something.

Then she saw him.

He was leaning against the wall of one of the sheds, totally comfortable and relaxed. Yet… He had this look in his eyes that made her want to comfort him. He was hurting.

Why was he hurting? Why did she care that he hurt?

Where did her sanity went off to?

She slowly walked towards him and stopped on a couple of metres distance, her hands with her weapon hanging next to her body, trying to recover her breath from the fight.

"Why don't you love me, kitten?".

His voice pierced through her like lightening and she suddenly felt dizzy. What was happening?

He looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Because you're an alien…". "-Racist-". "… and because I have a boyfriend".

The boy pushed himself of the wall and slowly walked towards the shaking girl in front of him. "I could take care of that obstacle". "I'd hate you if you killed him". "I don't have to kill him, I just need to get you to dump him". "I'll never dump him, I love him!". "Are you sure?".

Ichigo froze for a second. Was she sure? Of course she was sure! But where did the uncomfortable feeling in her chest come from and why did she suddenly blush? She felt as if she was lying. Lying to herself.

"Yes I'm sure!". She could see she answered too late. He already had a little smirk on his face. She was blinded by his golden eyes and stepped back, tripping over her own feat and falling.

He caught her in his arms so tight their noses touched. Ichigo lost the ability of breathing and thinking for a second. Then she tried to get out of his grip. "Let go of me!".

"If only I could…".

Ichigo froze and looked him straight in his way too beautiful eyes. He looked like he was between two minds. He raised one of his hands, still holding her tight to him with the other one, and slightly caressed her face with his fingertips. They were cold but still burning her.

"I tried… I really tried… But I just can't let you go".

Ichigo wrenched herself from his embrace and took some steps away from him again. "You have to, you know. We're enemies. We fight". She shook her head, trying to rearrange her thoughts. "You can't care for someone you have to fight". She was talking to herself more then to him. "You just can't".

She liked him. Sometimes she really liked him. When he looked at her as if she was more powerful then the sun or when he saved her life, though he had to kill her. Sometimes he smiled at her, this rare smile she saw too little, but still exists. Within that smile she could see his whole character, his good things, the things she… cared for. The things she didn't want to hurt. That smile was what kept her from hating him.

And that when he held her, she couldn't help but noticing that he held her a lot tighter then Masaya did.

Still… There were moments she'd love to shoot him. The times he looked down on her, for instance, or hurt her friends. Of course they were enemies, so she understood that part. But the thing she hated the most…

He just assumed that she would be his eventually. He was so absolutely sure she almost began to doubt her own feelings for Masaya.

And then that _smirk_ of his.

God, she hated that smirk like hell. It was one of the things that pissed her off the most and turned her into a grenade. Yet… Yet it also set weird feelings through her body she didn't want to feel.

It made her face some dreadful facts: whatever she might say, he actually _did_ make her feel things for him. Things she hadn't known the existence of. Things that set her body onto fire and blew away her brain. Things that made her legs want to collapse and sent shivers through her back.

Of course he noticed that she was talking to herself. He got himself some hope from it.

So she found herself being pushed with her back against the wall of one of the sheds, her wrists next to her face. He brought his face towards hers and stopped moving closer when his lips were just an inch away. She could feel his warm breath on her trembling lips. Ichigo tried her hardest to remain her sanity, but felt it slip away.

"You're so stubborn…" he murmured, noticing her struggles. His lips brushed against hers while speaking, causing her heart to speed up and her movements to stop.

The thought hit her out of nowhere. _I'm trying to resist him_ she thought, shocked _because if I wouldn't, I'd actually let him kiss me. Worse, _I'd_ kiss _him_, instead of the other way round._.

He knew. Of course he knew. Sometimes she thought he looked through her eyes into her heart more often then she did. He knew her and her feelings better then she knew them herself. He knew she loved him before she did herself. But he had underestimated her power. She wouldn't give in. As long as she could resist, she would. For the sake of the earth.

He didn't actually agree with that part of her thoughts.

His lips slightly slid down her collarbone and Ichigo's breath hitched.

What a jerk he was. How was she supposed to resist when he was pushing her like this? It was impossible!

He looked right in her eyes, his golden eyes melted. "Koneko-chan…" he whispered softly. Such sweetness. Such tenderness.

Such _love_.

She couldn't help herself.

She felt his surprise when she was the one to bridge the gap between their lips and kissed him with a burning fire that surprised her as well as it stunned her. She swept her arms around his neck and parted her lips a fraction, inhaling his scent, his taste. Enjoying.

Well, this was ironic. She thought she wouldn't be able to do this because she'd push him away as soon as possible. Now she found herself kissing him with a passion that didn't seem to be hers.

He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her just a bit closer, until every inch between their bodies had disappeared. He immediately went with this change of her mind, happy and fiery. He had been waiting for this moment.

This was absolutely insane… Well, she had already concluded that her sanity had went off, hadn't she?

So she just lost her mind and went with it. There was no way back now anyway. They were kissing. Really kissing. And she didn't push him away, thinking about how she had betrayed her Masaya. She didn't think about Masaya at all. No, she leaned in to get more.

"Where are the others?" Ryou asked surprised. Mint and Zakuro, who were walking towards him and Keiichiro, looked at each other for a second. "Ichigo said something about being late for a date and ran off, Lettuce went to visit her aunt who lives near and Pudding went with her" Zakuro said. Ryou raised one of his eyebrows. "They just went off?". "Yes". "Alright…". He looked suspicious, but shrugged his shoulders and opened the door of the car. "Then let's go. We'll drop you off home". The girls nodded and got into the car.

They had went to find their friends. But all three of them were… busy.

Pudding was having a normal, childish conversation with Taruto about their favourite animals and candy. They were actually laughing together and they didn't want to disturb any of that. Pudding seemed to shine.

Secondly they had went to look for Lettuce. She was also busy. She and Pai were also conversing quietly, they couldn't hear what they were saying. They were holding hands and their embrace was a bit too sweet for enemies. Their faces were inches away from each other and sometimes he caressed her face. She had been crying. When he kissed her tears away and then kissed her on her lips they had left, stunned.

Last they had gone to find Ichigo. They found her in an alleyway, kissing Kisshu blissfully happy and enjoying herself immensely. Their kiss was so fiery it almost burned.

To be honest, Mint en Zakuro rather wouldn't have seen that.

So they just left the three being and got back to Ryou and Keiichiro.

The plan had been so simple. So unbelievably simple. Still, no one had expect it would end up like this.

Simple distraction. Yeah, right.

9


End file.
